This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Twist ties are generally known in the art for enclosing bags and/or bundling objects together. Recent developments in this art provide a coated flexible wire tie or twist tie device as shown in FIG. 11A that is suitable for supporting weight or bundling large objects. Examples various twist tie devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,256,812 entitled Wrap For Bundling Objects and U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,216 Tie Wrap For Bundling Objects which describe flexible wire ties having an elongated piece of shape-retaining deformable core with a rubber or foam cover.
Such twist tie devices have been used in assorted applications some of which are described in US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0026316 entitled Tie Wrap For Bundling Objects and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/724,814 entitled Organizing Device With Flexible Ties. In these applications, the twist tie device either terminates with a free end or is covered by a small cap. The only function of the end cap is to terminate the twist tie device which would other leave the core exposed. The bundling, organizing and securing function are carried out by the elongated, bendable, shape-retaining body. The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/724,814 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
A mountable twist tie product recently introduced by Nite Ize LLC of Boulder, Colo. is shown in FIGS. 11B and 11C. This product has a round molded base backed with 3M® Acrylic Plus Tape™ that may be attached to a variety of surfaces. A twist tie extends from the base and terminates with a simple end cap. The twist tie can be bent to form a hanger for objects such as keys or leashes or to wrap around objects such as cords or sunglasses.
The nature and variety of uses for such twist tie devices could be significantly increased if additional functional features were incorporated into an end cap component. Thus, there remains a need for a flexible wire tie with a functional end cap component that can be used in combination with a base or support structure.